EPA: $400,000 in Grants for Contaminated Land Cleanup, Economic Development in Arkansas, Texas

(Dallas, Texas – May 8, 2009) Communities in Arkansas will share $400,000 with communities in Texas to help assess former industrial and commercial sites and turn them from problem properties to productive community use. The grant is to be awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the brownfields program.The Ark-Tex Council of Governments was selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants totaling $400,000 to conduct environmental site assessments, inventory and characterize sites, conduct cleanup planning, and support community outreach activities.“EPA and the brownfields program are putting people and property back to work in Texas and Arkansas,” said EPA Acting Regional Administrator Lawrence E. Starfield. “This funding will help communities turn current brownfields into future resources.”Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In addition, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 expanded the definition of a brownfield to include mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture of illegal drugs. Grant recipients are selected through a national competition. The Brownfields Program encourages development of America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites. President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17, 2009, and has directed that the Recovery Act be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability. To that end, the American people can see how every dollar is being invested at Recovery.gov. More information on brownfields cleanup revolving loan fund pilots and grants and other brownfields activities under the Recovery Act: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/eparecovery/index.htm .Additional information on the EPA Region 6 brownfields recipients and their projects is available at http://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm .

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